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Phillips defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Greg Weadick in 2015, taking 59 per cent of the vote. During her time in legislature, she was also responsible for the status of women file — a new post created under the Alberta NDP government.

Meanwhile, UCP candidate Nathan Neudorf has captured the southern Alberta city’s east riding. Neudorf faced off against NDP incumbent MLA Maria Fitzpatrick. He won with 6,503 votes, while Fitzpatrick retained 4,980 votes when 82 out of 93 polls were counted.

Alberta’s incoming premier Jason Kenney echoed a message from his Doug Ford friend in Ontario: Alberta is open for business.

In an exuberant speech to a boisterous crowd, Kenney said his party would return the province to economic prosperity after “years of economic decline and stagnation.”

“What a great day for the province of Alberta. Friends, today our great province has sent a message to Canada and the world — Alberta is open for business,” Kenney said in Calgary at the Stampede Grounds.

Alberta election results

He said the UCP is committed to creating tens of thousands of good jobs by restoring investment confidence and “unleashing” the job-creating power of Alberta entrepreneurs.

“Albertans have elected a government that will be obsessed with getting this province back to work,” Kenney said.

He said help is on the way for small business owners, workers in Alberta’s energy industry and to newcomers.

“Tonight I send an important message to businesses everywhere: If you want to benefit from what will be the lowest taxes in Canada, if you want to benefit from a government that will cut its red tape burden by one-third, if you want to benefit from Canada’s most educated population and a deep culture of enterprise and innovation, help us. Come here, invest here,” Kenney said.

Kenney said he would continue to fight the federal government to get a “fair deal” for Albertans as well as a “foreign-funded campaign of special interests” who seek to allegedly landlock oil in Alberta.

In a statement Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Jason Kenney for his election win. He also praised Notley for her years of service at Alberta’s helm.

“I look forward to working with the provincial government to create good, middle-class jobs, build infrastructure, and grow the businesses and industries at the heart of Alberta’s prosperity so the province can remain competitive in our changing economy,” Trudeau’s statement said.

He also promised to work with Alberta on issues affecting the province — and Canada more broadly — such as ongoing troubles for Canadian canola producers, climate change, and “getting our natural resources to market.”

9:58 p.m. — NDP leader gets emotional as she concedes to Jason Kenney

Rachel Notley says despite losing the election to the UCP, her party has reshaped Alberta for the better.

In an emotional concession speech, Notley said although the NDP did not achieve the results they had hoped for and worked so hard for, she was “enormously” proud of her party’s track record.

“Four years ago, Albertans hired us to do a very big job and at a very difficult time,” Notley said. “And we did that job with purpose. And we did it with integrity. And today Alberta is a better place because of it.”

She said she hoped to inspire girls and young women to pursue politics and serve as leaders in their communities.

She thanked party supporters, volunteers and candidates for their hard work, and pointed to the party’s track record, including establishing the highest minimum wage in Canada, cutting the child poverty rate in half, and introducing Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan.

“For those of us working for a more progressive Alberta this may feel like a step back, but remember, we have made tremendous, tremendous progress,” Notley said.

She also said her party will defend Albertans’ rights, call out racism, and serve as an ally to the LGBTQ community.

David Khan says while the party will not have a member in the legislature for the first time in 30 years, the Liberals will rebuild and be back.

“We will regroup, reload and carry on,” Khan said. He is trailing in his riding of Calgary Mountain-View. Unofficial results showed Khan in fourth place with the party not projected to win any other seats.

The riding had been held for 15 years by former party leader David Swann, who chose not to run in this year’s election.

UCP candidate Jeremy Wong and outgoing NDP MLA Kathleen Ganley are neck and neck in a tight race to represent Calgary-Mountain View, with Ganley leading by around 700 votes.

9:38 p.m. — Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel concedes

Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel says he hopes Jason Kenney will represent all Albertans as the UCP forms government.

In his concession speech, Mandel said the “very polarized” election made it difficult for the Alberta Party to gain ground in the province. The party was not projected to win any seats.

Mandel said NDP Leader Rachel Notley put up a good fight and he wished her luck. He said he was proud of his candidates, party staff and volunteers.

“Alberta will change as we move forward and we’ll see what happens … Everybody in this room and who worked for the Alberta Party must hold their head high.”

Mark Smith previously worked for 30 years as a high school teacher in the riding. Smith is currently the outgoing education critic, and held that role under the Wildrose Party as well.

During the election, he came under fire for his role in writing and distributing a six-page policy paper in 2015, when he was a Wildrose MLA, where he stated his belief that schools should have the right to fire teachers based on their sexuality.

A clip of a sermon delivered by Smith in 2013 also shows him drawing a comparison between homosexuality and pedophilia. He also made anti-abortion comments in the same clip. Smith released a statement saying he “unequivocally” apologizes if anyone was offended or hurt by his comments, and that he “regrets” how his commentary was framed at the time.

Kenney has previously refused to say whether he’ll name Smith his education minister.

Bilous has been declared the winner in Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview, where he has been MLA since 2012, while Hoffman held on to her seat in Edmonton-Glenora.

Eggen won his seat in Edmonton-North West. He was elected with 70 per cent of the vote in 2015 in the former riding of Edmonton-Calder, which has since dissolved due to electoral boundary changes.

Other notable NDP ministers who will be returning to the legislature include: Marlin Schmidt, advanced education minister, who was elected in Edmonton-Gold Bar; Richard Feehan, Indigenous relations minister, elected in Edmonton-Rutherford; and Lori Sigurdson, seniors and housing minister, elected in Edmonton-Riverview.

Jones, an investment banker, was named as a replacement nominee by the UCP shortly after Eva Kiryakos’ resignation. Kiryakos stepped down as the UCP candidate for Calgary-South East over hateful comments she made on social media, including the promotion of false, anti-immigrant and transphobic claims trumpeted by far-right groups online.

The riding was previously held by Rick Fraser, who won his seat under the Progressive Conservative party. Fraser was seeking re-election in the same riding, but under the Alberta Party banner.

Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel has been defeated in the riding of Edmonton-McClung in the Alberta provincial election. NDP candidate Lorne Dach beat Mandel, who was sitting in third in early election results.

Mandel was hoping to sit in the legislature for the second time. He was health minister in the Progressive Conservative government of Jim Prentice in September 2014 despite not holding a seat.

Mandel won a byelection the following month, but was defeated in the May 2015 provincial election.

He was elected Alberta Party leader in February 2018.

The 73-year-old served as mayor of Edmonton for three straight terms.

9:07 p.m. — Notley retains seat in Edmonton-Strathcona as party falls from power

Rachel Notley has been re-elected for a fourth term in her riding — although her party, which held a 53-seat majority at the time of the writ drop, will not be able to hold onto power.

In a letter to supporters, Notley said she was proud of her government’s record and that she believed the NDP has made the province a better place.

NDP candidate Jasvir Deol, an insurance broker, has defeated Len Rhodes, one of the UCP’s star candidates in Edmonton-Meadows.

Len Rhodes, the former president of the Edmonton Eskimos, was the only candidate appointed by Jason Kenney, much to the disappointment of other candidates who were hoping to secure the nomination for that riding, as well as some party members who felt the appointment contradicted the UCP’s “grassroots guarantee” to have open nomination contests.

Kenney said he was given leeway to appoint four candidates, and that Rhodes was appointed later due to his existing professional duties.

Edmonton-Meadows is a newly contested riding in the 2019 election.

9:05 p.m. — Doug Schweitzer claims seat for UCP in Calgary-Elbow

UCP candidate Doug Schweitzer has been declared the winner in Calgary-Elbow.

Schweitzer, a Calgary lawyer, was a candidate for the UCP leadership. He had previously warned that the party needed to avoid a “lake of fire” situation on social policies, referencing a 2012 incident when a Wildrose candidate made a controversial comment about gay Albertans that was widely seen as a comment that doomed the Wildrose Party’s victory in 2012.

Schweitzer has been a vocal supporter of the controversial Springbank dam project, while the UCP has opposed it. Schweitzer defeated NDP candidate Janet Eremenko and Alberta Party candidate Greg Clark, who was previously that party’s leader.

8:55 p.m. — David Shepherd holds on to his seat in Edmonton-City Centre

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Incumbent NDP MLA David Shepherd will return back to the legislature, as he retains his seat in Edmonton-City Centre.

Shepherd won 54 per cent of the vote in the 2015 election in the formerly-named riding of Edmonton-Centre, a riding that has long been a Liberal stronghold from 1993 to 2015.

8:42 p.m. — Leela Aheer elected as MLA for Chestermere-Strathmore, booting Derek Fildebrandt out of legislature

Leela Aheer, incumbent MLA for the former riding Chestermere-Rocky View and deputy leader of the United Conservative Party, has been declared the winner for the newly named and drawn riding of Chestermere-Strathmore.

Aheer’s win means Derek Fildebrandt, Freedom Conservative Party (FCP) leader, has lost his seat in Alberta’s legislature. He was elected to the Alberta legislature in 2015 as a Wildrose MLA for Strathmore-Brooks.

Fildebrandt then sat under the UCP caucus when the Wildrose Party and the Progressive Conservatives decided to merge under one party banner. He resigned from caucus after a series of ethical and legal controversies, including renting out his taxpayer-funded apartment on Airbnb.

He then joined the FCP and became leader in October 2018.

8:35 p.m. — Multiple media outlets declare a UCP government

Multiple media outlets are reporting that United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney has retained his seat in Calgary-Lougheed, and will be the next premier. Kenney’s United Conservatives jumped out front in early returns Tuesday in Alberta’s election, while Rachel Notley’s NDP are holding strong in Edmonton.

The UCP currently leads in rural ridings throughout the province and in some Calgary constituencies.

In a letter to supporters, Notley called the election “the biggest fight” of her life and said she was proud of the NDP’s record, despite not yet knowing the results of the election.

8:10 p.m. — Elementary and high school students vote for a UCP majority in the province’s Student Vote

Alberta students voted for a United Conservative Party majority government, handing the UCP 49 seats in the province’s 2019 election student vote. More than 165,000 ballots were cast by student participants in 1,229 schools across the province.

The NDP formed the Opposition with 35 seats, and the Alberta Party won three seats in the student vote. The students represent all 87 ridings in the province, spokesperson Dan Allan said in an email.

8 p.m. — Polls are officially closed

The polls are officially closed for the 2019 Alberta provincial election.

While the party that forms government should be announced Tuesday night, Elections Alberta expects a 10-day gap between election day and the official results before the outcome for every riding is confirmed, especially in particularly tight races.

This year saw record voter turnout at advance polls, with about 696,000 opting to cast their ballots before election day. For the first time, Albertans were able to vote for candidates in their home riding from any polling station in the province.

Elections Alberta won’t begin counting the ballots cast outside of voters’ home electoral districts until midday April 17, the day after the election.

7 p.m. — Doors open at UCP campaign results party

UCP supporters trailed into Calgary’s Big Four Roadhouse on Stampede grounds where a party spokesperson said they’re hoping to see as many as 1,500 people show up.

Attendees picked up blue and white party-branded hoodies and baseball caps on the way into the hall bathed in UCP-blue light, where a band played rock and country cover songs.

UCP Leader Jason Kenney posted a video to Twitter earlier in the day with former federal Conservative leader Rona Ambrose, encouraging people to come see what they hope will be a victory party when the votes start to roll in.

6:30 p.m. — City of Calgary sounds alarm over robocalls

Calgary city officials say they aren’t behind a series of robocalls from a group called “Tell City Hall” that is asking Calgarians how they will vote in the provincial election. Similar calls were reported in Lethbridge earlier in the day.

“The city does not ask citizens about their election choices and has no affiliation with the Tell City Hall group,” read a statement from the City of Calgary on Tuesday evening.

At least two Elections Alberta workers quit their jobs Tuesday at a remote Fox Lake, Alta., polling station, forcing the election authority to fly in two emergency workers to the First Nation community in northern Alberta.

“For whatever reason, they chose not to show up for work today,” Drew Westwater, Elections Alberta spokesperson, said. There were no details to as why the workers quit abruptly, but voters were left without a place to cast their ballots at the station’s scheduled opening time of 9 a.m.

Elections Alberta wasn’t able to recruit replacement workers from the area, Westwater said, and two election officials were flown in from Fort Vermilion. The polling station opened later than scheduled as a result.

Westwater said the polling station will stay open past 8 p.m. to compensate for the time lost. He added a few other polling stations will also stay open later due to a late start, but no more than five to 30 minutes.

Elections Alberta has hired 18,000 workers for election day across the province, Westwater said.

Mark Smith, United Conservative Party candidate for the riding of Drayton Valley-Devon, has posted a sign outside his constituency office that reads, “NO PRESS, PLEASE.” Two volunteers standing outside the door said they were instructed to shoo media away.

Smith has been in hot water for much of this election campaign for his role in writing and distributing a six-page policy paper in 2015, when he was a Wildrose MLA, where he stated his belief that schools should have the right to fire teachers based on their sexuality.

A clip of a past sermon delivered by Smith in 2013 was also brought to light, in which he draws a comparison between homosexuality and pedophilia. He also made anti-abortion comments in the same clip.

Smith released a statement saying he “unequivocally” apologizes if anyone was offended or hurt by his comments, and that he “regrets” how his commentary was framed at the time. The UCP also responded in regards to his policy paper, saying it does not reflect the party’s official position.

Smith is the education critic for the UCP, and held that role under the Wildrose Party as well.

5:30 p.m. — Voters continue heading to the polls with less than three hours to go

Albertans are still steadily heading to polling stations for the 87 ridings up for grabs in the province.

While advance polling this year saw triple the voter turnout from 2015, Elections Alberta said it’s still too early to speculate on voting numbers for election day.

“We don’t know what to expect,” spokesperson Drew Westwater said. He added polling officers continue to be busy collecting ballots at the more than 6,700 voting stations in the province.

At one Edmonton-Castle Downs polling station, voters said they anticipate it will be a tight race when polls close at 8 p.m. The riding on Edmonton’s north side has NDP incumbent Nicole Goehring fighting to keep her seat against United Conservative Party candidate Ed Ammar and the Alberta Party’s Moe Rahall.

“It’s going to be scattered,” said Abdel Nasser Houchaimi, who voted earlier in the day and has lived in the riding for 19 years. Tom Babich, another local, thinks it’s going to be a close race between the NDP and the UCP.

Voters were also busy heading to the polls in Calgary, some with two main issues on their mind: balance and the economy.

“I was torn on social issues versus economy,” said Nathan Leonard, who cast his ballot in Calgary-Mountain View. He said his riding normally leans left, but this year, he thinks economic concerns could change that.

This year’s divisive election campaign brought advance voters out in record numbers. It’s also mobilized the younger voters, said Sara Veitch, a recent university graduate who voted in the Calgary-Klein riding.

Westwater said results will start trickling in shortly after polls close.

4 p.m. — City of Lethbridge says reported robocalls are fraudulent

Lethbridge city officials say reported automated calls claiming to be calling on behalf of the municipality are fraudulent.

According to a spokesperson, the calls were reported to the mayor via Twitter.

“The calls seemed to be from the City of Lethbridge and that it was regarding ‘election concerns.’ We wanted to be proactive if this indeed was the case and sent messages out via our social media to clarify that these are not from the City of Lethbridge,” the city said in a statement.

Lethbridge city officials also said partisan political materials have been left on public transit. That material has not been approved by the city and is being removed. It’s not known who circulated the material.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford expressed hope that Jason Kenney’s United Conservatives would topple Rachel Notley’s New Democrats and give Ontario another ally in its battle against Ottawa over carbon-pricing measures.

“This is a fight that we have to continue, and hopefully today we’ll have another partner with my good friend Jason Kenney. Hopefully he’ll be elected premier of Alberta,” Ford told reporters in Markham, Ont.

“I think the world of Jason Kenney. He’s going to turn Alberta around. They’ve been struggling — those poor people. My heart breaks for them and he’s going to be a close ally,” Ford said.

10:30 a.m. — Alberta Party Leader casts his vote

Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel walked up to the polling station hand in hand with his wife Lynn Mandel to cast his ballot.

“I was asked by media who I voted for. I said I wanted to keep my choice secret,” Mandel said in a tweet after casting his vote. “I did say I voted for a pretty good-looking guy!”

9 a.m. — Polls open

After a contentious 28-day campaign, Albertans headed to the polls starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Elections Alberta saw the highest voter turnout during advance polls in the province’s history. About 696,000 people cast their ballots between Tuesday and the Saturday last week.

But advance ballots cast outside of voters’ home electoral districts won’t be counted until midday April 17, the day after the election. Out of the total number of advanced ballots cast, 223,000 were from voting stations outside of voters’ home districts.

“If there’s any close races, obviously across the province everybody’s going to be waiting for us to get these results out and counted,” Drew Westwater, Elections Alberta’s deputy chief electoral officer, previously told Star Calgary.

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